Our second day with Maria began with a multi-channel scramble (messaging our host on AirBnB, emailing our tour guide, and calling the airport baggage transfer office) to coordinate getting our bags back. Fortunately, we got them back 30 minutes before our touring began, and let us tell you, nothing feels better than the sweet, sweet embrace of clean undies!
After getting in the car with Maria to start our day, we were talking about how this was our first visit to Armenia, and even more interesting, about how Grant was the first Boyadjian to visit the motherland since his great grandparents came to the USA in the late 1890s! She also got a kick out of the fact that I looked like a close relative of one of her tour guide colleagues, David (more on this later).
Our first stop was Garni, an ancient fortress built by the Kings of Armenia as a summer retreat that was an ~28km drive outside the city. As we went along, Maria noticed that it was an exceptionally clear day, so we pulled over at a scenic point to take photos of Mount Ararat. Turns out our stopping point also happened to be the favorite resting spot of one of Armenia’s national poets, who would lay in the sun, drink wine, and compose poetry to Mt. Ararat. Sadly, he was killed during the communist purges while Armenia was part of the USSR, but today they’ve erected a beautiful arch as a monument to him on his favorite composing (and drinking!) spot.
After our photo op, we continued on to Garni, which was built on a triangular cliff and includes royal ruins, a Roman style bath house with pagan mosaics, and the only Roman temple to have survived Armenia’s conversion to Christianity. Maria says the King of Armenia agreed to let Rome treat Armenia as a territory and in exchange, he got the money from Nero to build Garni. The temple was to Mithros, but when the country converted, it became the bedroom of the King’s sister as it was famous for being cool on hot summer days!
On the left, the old lead pegs that hold the temple together. On the right, soviet-era steel pegs. I think we can tell which is superior!
Where there was once a marble statue of Mithros and the bull, there is now… Karate Grant!
After wandering Garni’s ancient ruins, we hopped back in the car and headed to Geghard, a medieval monastery that once held what Armenians believe to have been the spear that pierced the side of Jesus (now in Armenia’s equivalent of the Vatican city). As with many older Armenian monasteries, Geghard is built far back into a valley in an attempt to hide it from invaders and pillagers, which makes for very dramatic surroundings!
The building itself is also interesting because you can only see half of the actual church! 2 mausoleums and a nave have been carved directly into the rock behind the church in the late 12th century as there was no more room to expand the church! They created these spaces from the top down, and since they are located in an area prone to earthquakes, had to be very careful in their construction as a single flaw could have left the space at risk of collapsing.
It was as we were leaving Geghard, that we ran into Grant’s “brother from another mother,” David (That’s a direct quote, btw!). While they aren’t exactly twins, they definitely look related, thus proving that Grant really IS Armenian (as if there was any doubt?!).
That wrapped up our tour with Maria and we had to bid her a sad farewell — she really was a great tour guide and if anyone ever visits Yerevan or Armenia in general, we highly recommend her services!
For dinner, we headed to The Club, a semi-formal dining experience where we enjoyed fried camambert (cheese) with apricot sorbet, braised lamb shank wrapped in eggplant, Manti (traditional Western Armenia pockets of meat in a garlic, lemon, and yogurt sauce!). We also treated ourselves to a bottle of Armenian wine!
After dinner we wandered the city, which was humming as it was Children’s Day, complete with outdoor concerts and activities; shocking to us as it was 10pm — isn’t it their bed times!? Regardless, it was fun to watch the hubbub unfold while enjoying a nice after dinner cognac – Grant ordered his neat and I tried mine blended with black tea. We then called it a night… before the kiddies did!
– G & J